NEW YORK (WSVN) – A Miami resident who is a dual citizen of France and Colombia was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn of running a massive money laundering operation that moved more than $300 million in drug proceeds for transnational criminal organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Alain Bibliowicz Mitrani, 51, was found guilty on Friday on all five counts of a superseding indictment charging him with money laundering conspiracy, bank fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business following a two-week trial.
Prosecutors said Bibliowicz Mitrani led the scheme from about 2020 to 2024 through a company called Treebu, which was presented as a legitimate technology business but actually served as a front for an international money laundering enterprise based in Florida and Colombia.
According to evidence at trial, the operation converted illicit drug proceeds — including cryptocurrency linked to cartels in Colombia and Mexico — into cash through shell companies, U.S. bank accounts and complex financial transactions designed to hide the source of the funds before sending the money back to traffickers for a fee, prosecutors said.
Authorities said Bibliowicz Mitrani lied to financial institutions about the purpose of his companies and failed to register as a money transmitting business as required by law, allowing the scheme to avoid detection while moving hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system.
Prosecutors said the defendant used the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle, including payments toward an approximately $4 million Miami mansion, luxury travel, high-end hotel stays abroad and expensive jewelry purchases from Van Cleef & Arpels.
Federal officials credited the investigation to a joint effort by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation.
When sentenced, Bibliowicz Mitrani faces up to 70 years in federal prison.
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